Barefoot

Dear Andrew,

I am 100% that bitch

Existential crisis every other second

Always thinking about the end of things

Running away to new beginnings but still

I want to know you forever

I often ask myself,

Will you be remembered by someone other than your family?

Will someone stick with you all the way?

Will you be loved for a really long time or is everything a chapter?

There are very few people I could list that I really want to know forever. And even fewer

that I know I will.

So I ask you

Meet me with forgiveness and patience and soft smiles and tenderness

Meet me with salt and pepper green beans as the main meal not the appetizer or side

dish 

Meet me with amusement and “say that again?” raised eyebrows so i can meet you with

silence and you can meet me with annoyance and we can meet each other and

discover we both love cats AND dogs 

Meet me with heavy weights on your shoulder blades bruises from good things like

lifting plates and push-me-hard-so-i fall-over type of bruises; did i fail to mention meet

me where you’re bruised and we can lift weights there until nothing is heavy anymore

because meet me where you are weak but also where you are strong 

Meet me with paper carton protein shakes; vanilla not chocolate because that was a

mistake; i’m sorry I like to try new things but not new teaching partners

Meet me in September with a voice that sings for a stadium, my ears will listen from the

nosebleed seats in England if you meet me with vibrato and rollercoaster runs and most

importantly with my letter prompts answered 

Meet me in your orange green white beige brown navy striped shirt oh wait you can’t

because i’m wearing it 

Meet me in Virginia... no more. or maybe again... who knows! but meet me here anyway

everywhere we meet, because we can’t meet anywhere else. meet me in Virginia when

you meet me in San Marino or Bologna or Liverpool or my funeral or maybe when i

never see you again... meet me in Virginia in your dreams when you feel sad or low or

need to meet me for whatever reason.  And remember, we can always meet all over

again if you forget me.

Meet me inside the sun, above the storm

In the middle of a yawn

Or on the Staten Island Ferry

Wearing a black choker

An elephant ring

And jellyfish eyes

Meet me in a house of mirrors where we giggle at our reflections and walk barefoot with

no risk of getting splinters

Where there’s space to dance and write and sing and think

Meet me in the future; a soft horizon

And greet me with your best grin

Because I want to know you forever